For as long as she can remember, Amy Lester has had a heart for children.

“My goal in life was not to be a doctor or an astronaut,” she said. “I wanted to be a babysitter, and with all the money I would make as a babysitter, I would build an enormous mansion to house the hundreds of needy children I would one day adopt…clearly my heart and mind were already being prepared for the path I would take later in life.”

Lester was selected last spring, first as Comer Elementary’s Teacher of the Year, and then as Madison County’s Teacher of the Year.

She is beginning her 13th year at Comer (she spent her first year in Barrow County), where she taught art for the first eight years before obtaining her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and her RESA gifted endorsement, and then taking on the job of second grade teacher. This fall, she became the gifted resource teacher and also the school’s first ESOL (English Spoken as a Second Language) teacher. She said she enjoys challenging herself and was anxious to serve the Burmese children who have come from refugee camps to the Comer area with their families.

Lester was born and reared in Madison County and still makes this county her home. She and her husband, Scott, have two sons, Gavin, who is a sixth grader at Athens Christian School and Grayson, who is a fourth grader at Comer.

“Being a mother myself has given me a great perspective – I treat these babies (students) like I would want my own babies treated,” she said.

She credits her grandmother, Bonnie Kincaid, with giving her the inspiration and desire to model what she saw in her as she served first as a paraprofessional for many years at Colbert Elementary and then later as a substitute teacher there, while Lester was a student there herself. It was during this time that she says she got to see firsthand how her grandmother gave her full heart and soul to the children she taught.

“They absolutely loved her and she truly cared for and appreciated them,” she said. “She did not just show up each day for a paycheck. Freely, she gave her time, respect and love (to them), expecting nothing in return. Although she was in a position some may consider less important than that of a teacher, she earned and received the utmost respect from her co-workers, including teachers and administrators — to me, she was a everything a teacher should be, and more.”

Lester says her grandmother still has a major impact on her life to this day and was proud that she could see her receive this award.
She said her ultimate goal is to be a positive influence in the lives of their students.

“A teacher who truly strives to make a difference will search the heart and soul of each child, discovering how to reach that child in a way that will have an impact on him or her forever,” Lester said.

She said her reward comes when she sees that “light bulb” moment when a child begins to realize what they are capable of and to gain the independence to become confident learners with intrinsic motivation that will give them success in, and out, of the classroom.

“Although there may be some who say I have accomplished my goal of becoming a ‘babysitter,’ I say I have become much, much more than that,” Lester said. “I may not live in a huge mansion with hundreds of children, but I work in a school that serves that many each day and many of them I would call my own. Thanks to positive influences in my life and a desire to help children become successful, my heart is happy and I am where I belong.”

Lester said she is honored to receive the recognition.

“I feel truly blessed and privileged to have been chosen by my peers to represent such an amazing school as Comer Elementary. Then to have been selected as Teacher of the Year for Madison County was a moment I will never forget. This is my home. My roots are in Madison County. I cannot think of another place I would rather be as an educator.I am extremely humbled and honored by this entire experience.”

Ms. Lester is a rare gem! I suspect she is one major reason Comer Elementary gets awards for performance and is known to be a good school. If there were more teachers like her in all our public schools, perhaps she wouldn't have to send her own children to private school. Of course, if we, as a society, elevated both teachers and children to a much higher plane and paid teachers their true worth, we'd be able to attract more Ann Lesters to our schools. Lip service in adoration of children doesn't cut it. Actions do. Intelligent actions. Like those of Ms. Lester.

She teaches elementary school. One of her kids goes to the school where she teaches, the article says. The other one is in sixth grade.

I am wondering, could you think past your "disgust" and tell us how this educator could teach at the same school where both her fourth and sixth grader go...unless Madison County forfeits another obviously talented teacher?

Jerk.

Add Comment

Name

Email

Homepage

In reply to

Comment

E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Phone*

What is nine minus five?

Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.